Long before Arians was calling plays for the Cleveland Browns and then the Pittsburgh Steelers, he played quarterback at Virginia Tech. As the quarterbacks coach in Indianapolis, Arians worked with a young Peyton Manning.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who sparred with the team’s previous coordinator, Ken Whisenhunt, has no complaints with Arians.

“I’m glad the Browns got rid of him so we could get him,” Roethlisberger said Wednesday.

Arians’ best day with the Browns might have been the 36-33 playoff game at Pittsburgh in January 2003. Or it could have been a 33-13 Sunday night winner over Pittsburgh in October 2003.

On Dec. 28, 2003, Arians stood in a Paul Brown Stadium locker room, hoping against hope that a 22-14 win over Cincinnati would save his job.

He was fired the next day.

Bill Cowher hired him three weeks later. After two years as wide receivers coach, Arians replaced Whisenhunt as coordinator in 2007.

“I’ve been blessed to have him,” Roethlisberger said. “We work well together.

“I don’t think he views his role or his job as telling me what to do. We both look at each other in terms of helping each other. He’s made me a lot better quarterback.”

Arians took over Pittsburgh’s offense when Whisenhunt, a former NFL tight end, became head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Mike Tomlin, whose background is on defense, became Arians’ new boss.

“Our relationship has been awesome,” Tomlin said. “Bruce has done an awesome job using talent, spreading the ball around.

“The issue for us is winning, as it is for Bruce. That’s why our relationship has been so great. It’s never about stats.”

Roethlisberger’s stats are off the charts. He is on pace to top 4,700 passing yards. In five previous years as the starter, his passing totals have been 2,621, 2,385, 3,513, 3,154 and 3,301.

Through five games, Roethlisberger trails only Manning, 1,645 yards to 1,470. Roethlisberger’s passer rating is 102.6, close to the career-best 104.1 he posted the year Arians became his coordinator.

It’s a matter of trust. The best example of that materialized after Sunday’s game at Detroit got hairy.

Roethlisberger had just thrown a pick-6 to Detroit’s William James, cutting a first-half lead to 14-13.

Wearing a strange smile as he walked off the field after the interception, Roethlisberger went straight to Arians. He basically asked if he could call the plays on the next series, running a no-huddle.

Arians said yes. Tomlin said yes.

Roethlisberger deduced that the Lions couldn’t cover Heath Miller, hitting the tight end with three passes covering 30 yards. He was 4-for-4 on the drive after throwing a 17-yard touchdown strike to Hines Ward.

Roethlisberger is ruthless when the Steelers get inside the 20, delivering touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s last eight red-zone possessions.

His completion percentage is a league-best 73.8. Only he and Manning are in the 70s.

“I’m not satisfied,” he said. “I don’t think I’m playing well.”

What happens if Arians really figures out how to use him?

Man, what did they pay to write up this article. :duh:
I'm sure Ben would sing a different tune if they would ever hire a real OC.
F*ck Bruce Arians! :evilshake:

10-15-2009, 06:48 PM

LatrobePA

Hey Bruce Ben just called, said his TV is broken, you better get over there and fix it!

j/k

10-15-2009, 07:36 PM

Black@Gold Forever32

I think its funny all the hate for Bruce Arians.......I'm not always happy with Arians also but that is me period....I always bitch at the OC no matter who it is throughout the years......But people have to realize that Arians does deserve credit for Big Ben's development as an NFL QB.......If Whisenhunt had remained and became HC then he wouldn't have let Ben grow like the way Arians has........

I'm sure Ken would have called the plays and been his own OC and put restraints on Big Ben and not giving Ben the trust that Bruce has........

10-15-2009, 07:41 PM

DanRooney

you forgot the part where Arians says

"if we give the ball to rashard mendenhall about 6-7 more times, he'll lead the NFL in rushing yards for 2 weeks in a row.. we can't be having that now can we? If this kid gets too many yards, he'll be the starter over willie and will ruin my strategy of always starting off with 2nd and 12"

10-15-2009, 08:16 PM

cmerrifield

We have to remember that before Arians, Cowher made all the play calls and Ben had no input, so I think the love Ben has for Bruce is more of reaction to Cowher who gave him no say, and Bruce works with Ben in every aspect of the offense. That is the perspective that I read that.

10-15-2009, 08:39 PM

yinzer

ben has been nothing short of awesome this year.

10-15-2009, 09:58 PM

$teelersRule

Quote:

Originally Posted by yinzer

ben has been nothing short of awesome this year.

i completely agree, remember how nervous we all were that he would be too destracted with the court case and how he was throwing int's in camp? hahah just goes to show us how off base we can be sometimes :lol:

10-16-2009, 08:33 AM

BlitzburghRockCity

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black@Gold Forever32

I think its funny all the hate for Bruce Arians.......I'm not always happy with Arians also but that is me period....I always bitch at the OC no matter who it is throughout the years......But people have to realize that Arians does deserve credit for Big Ben's development as an NFL QB.......If Whisenhunt had remained and became HC then he wouldn't have let Ben grow like the way Arians has........

I'm sure Ken would have called the plays and been his own OC and put restraints on Big Ben and not giving Ben the trust that Bruce has........

Whisenhunt had too much of Cowher in him to ever let Ben flourish the way Tomlin has, that's for sure. I'm with you on Arians, every week he does something that pisses me off, most Sundays more than 1 thing, but he also deserves credit too.

Bruce is always going to be the type of coordinator that will makes mistakes during the game, he'll try too much, try too hard, or get too greedy. He would rather push the envelope than continue to do what works and sometimes that costs us games, sometimes it costs us a first down, but this is what you get with him. For as much as he drives us nuts he also knows how to let Ben be Ben and he designs the offense around his strengths. He deserves as much credit as blame.

10-16-2009, 10:16 AM

SteelCityKid5

I love the fact Arians lets Ben do his thing but I wish he would run it a litt...er... a lot more